CLEMSON- On a day that saw Hall of Fame coach Jack Leggett's number retired, Austin Gordon pitched a career-high 6.1 innings to help lead Clemson to a 5-1 win over Notre Dame on Saturday as the Tigers evened up its weekend series against the Fighting Irish.
The sophomore allowed just one unearned run on four hits, while striking out four and walking none, as he notched his first win of the season (1-3).
Freshman Tristan Smith and Nick Clayton came out of the bullpen and combined to hold Notre Dame scoreless over the final 2.2 innings.
Notre Dame starter Jack Findlay didn't make it out of the third, allowing five runs on five hits, while dropping to 4-2.
Clemson got on the board first when Will Taylor drove in Cam Cannarella in the bottom of the first, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Notre Dame responded with a run of its own in the top of the second to tie it right back up.
The Tigers came right back in the bottom of the second, getting a solo home run from Billy Amick, his fourth of the year and RBI knocks from both Cooper Ingle and Cannarella to make it 4-1. Ingle would finish the game with a team-high three hits.
In the fifth, Clemson would extend the lead to 5-1 on a one out RBI single by Riley Bertram, his 23rd run driven in this season.
With the win, Clemson improves to 21-15 on the season and 5-9 in ACC play. Notre Dame drops to 18-14 and 8-9.
Player of the Game: Cannarella just keeps on plugging away at the top of the lineup. The freshman was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. He is now hitting .420 on the season and has scored a team-high 42 runs.
Key Moment: With Clemson up four runs in the eighth, Notre Dame had runners on second and third with just one out. Clayton struck out Brooks Coetzee and got Nick Juaire to ground out to second to get out of the jam.
Stat of the Game: Despite picking up the win, Clemson was 2-of-11 with runners in scoring position. On two different occasions they left the bases loaded and stranded a total of 11 runners on the day.
Up Next: The same two teams will face off tomorrow in the third and final game of the ACC series. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. with streaming provided by ACCNX.
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